LOSC 0-0 Stade Brestois 29

THE MATCH

Brest travelled to Lille trailing their league-leading hosts by 11 places and 24 points in the table, but with Paul Lasne joining captain Haris Belkebla and Olympique Lyonnais loanee Jean Lucas in midfield, the visitors did a good job of frustrating their opponents. Luiz Araujo managed to get a deflected shot off which was safely collected by Sébastien Cibois in the visiting goal (30') and Jonathan David's shot-turned-cross only needed a LOSC toe on in to make it 1-0 soon after (32'), but it was Cibois' opposite number who was forced into the biggest save of the half, the France international palming Romain Perraud's shot away and then relieved to see Romain Faivre blaze high and wide on the rebound (34'). Bastien Dechepy's whistle went for half-time went with the deadlock intact, and Lille, if anyone, the more relieved to hear it.

More bark than bite

Lille kept banging the drum into the second half, and Jonathan Bamba was inches away from meeting Xeka's volleyed cross minutes after the restart (48'). With six goals and eight assists, nobody has had a hand in more goals for Lille this season, and Bamba was again close to adding his haul when he fired over from an Araujo pass (49'). Christophe Galtier sent Yusuf Yazici and Timothy Weah on for Jonathan Ikoné and Araujo for the final half hour (61') and LOSC had the ball in the back of the Brest net soon after, but Jonathan David's effort was ruled out with Jose Fonte having handballed in the build-up (67'). Renato Sanches then entered the fray for Xeka (71'), but despite the fresh legs in midfield and attack Lille couldn't find a way through and had to settle for a goalless draw.

THE PLAYER: Sébastien Cibois

Cibois only put regular No.1 Gautier Larsonneur out of the Brest team a couple of weeks ago, but performances like this are why Olivier Dall'Oglio put his faith in the 22-year-old. A Paris Saint-Germain youth academy graduate, 6'4" Cibois dominated his box whilst the calm he exudes can only be a joy for the centre-backs in front of him

THE STAT: 7

This was the first time in seven Ligue 1 Uber Eats games that Lille have failed to win - a run stretching back to their upset 2-1 loss to Angers SCO in Round 18. Les Dogues remain a point clear of champions PSG at the top of the table, but the Mauricio Pochettino's men beating OGC Nice on Saturday, the race is most definitely on.

Stade Rennais FC 0-2 AS Saint-Étienne

AS Saint-Étienne stretched their undefeated run in Ligue 1 Uber Eats to four earlier in the day, beating Stade Rennais FC 2-0 at the Roazhon Park with goals from Denis Bouanga and Arnaud Nordin.

Sainté slipped on a Coupe de France banana skin on Thursday, going down 1-0 to second-tier FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, but they rebounded in fine style against a side who began the day 10 places above them in fifth.

Yvan Neyou teed Bouanga up to cap off a fine counter-attacking move inside the first half hour (27') and Nordin made the game safe 20 minutes from time, latching onto Zaydou Youssouf's through-ball and firing home his third goal of the season (71').

FC Metz 1-2 RC Strasbourg Alsace

Adrien Thomasson was the hero as RC Strasbourg picked up Derby de l'Est bragging rights with a 2-1 win over FC Metz at the Stade Saint-Symphorien, meanwhile.

It was actually the hosts who opened the scoring, with Thomas Delaine forcing home Pape Ndiaga Yade's croner (18'), but Thomasson cancelled out that opener just past the half hour, racing onto Jean-Eudes Aholou's pass and finishing neatly (33'). The midfielder then completed his first Ligue 1 Uber Eats brace with a header five minutes from time (84') and Strasbourg maintained their 10-point gap on the automatic relegation places.

Angers SCO 1-3 FC Nantes

Antoine Kombouaré got off to the best possible start after replacing Raymond Domenech as FC Nantes coach, les Canaris cruising to a 3-1 win at Angers SCO.

The visitors could hardly have started brighter at the Stade Raymond Kopa, with Moses Simon (4') and Imran Louza (pen. 7') firing them into a two-goal lead before 10 minutes were up.

Angers pulled one back with a penalty of their own, Thomas Mangani converting after Sofiane Boufal's first attempt, which had been missed, was annulled with Andrei Girotto impinging on the area (33'). Kader Bamba made the game safe late on, though, (86') and Nantes claimed their first league win in 15 attempts.

Dijon FCO SCO 0-2 Nîmes Olympique

Nîmes Olympique left it late against Dijon FCO, but goals from Renaud Ripart (76') and Niclas Eliasson (87') gave them a 2-0 win which lifted them off the foot of the table, leapfrogging their opponents

Dijon were beginning to pour forward looking for the win when Ripart dealt them a hammer blow, finishing of a counter-attack with a finish high into Anthony Racioppi's net (76') and Eliasson out the result beyond doubt, tapping home Birger Meling's cutback for 2-0 (87'). Dijon, who lost Frédéric Sammaritano to a red card late on (90'), replace their visitors at the bottom.